Slow Cooker Beef and Broccoli

Note: This post first appeared on September 12, 2012. The recipe has been edited slightly (to make the recipe easier to understand if you were having issues before) and the photography got a facelift! Enjoy!

Time to break out the slow cookers :) one of the best parts of the cooler weather is being able to breakout the slow cooker to make delicious soups, stews, and cozy dinner meals such as this one!

You all know my obsession with chicken & broccoli, well I’m also obsessed with beef and broccoli so this slow cooker version is right up my alley. I love setting up a meal and just forgetting about it. You have the freedom to do whatever you want while a delicious meal is cooking away. Let me tell you – your whole house will smell AMAZING and the flavors in the sauce are to die for. I probably could’ve dunked all my rice in it, but I needed sauce for the next day as these make great leftovers :)

I can’t wait for all the slow-cooker recipes coming this fall/winter. The only thing that irked me in the past about them was the fact that I had to make them on the weekends cause I have this fear of having the slow cooker on while I was at work. I always worried it’d burn down my house. I found a solution. An electric on/off timer. I bought this and I can now set the time of when I want the slow cooker to start and when to stop. I’ll likely set it only to start because I’ll time it so when I get home, it’ll be done so I can just unplug it :) It’s a great investment and I can’t wait to cook more in my slow cooker! Fear of my house burning down should subside.

Much better than calling take-out; simply whip out your slow cooker and make this beef and broccoli at home!

Servings: 4

Ingredients

1lbbonelessbeef chuck roast, sliced into thin strips

1cupbeef consumme or beef broth

1/2cuplow sodium soy sauce

1/3cupdark brown sugar

1tbspsesame oil

3clovesgarlic,minced

Frozen broccoli florets (as many as desiredI believe I used almost 3 cups)

2tbspcornstarch or arrowroot powder

4tbspof liquid from slow cooker

Cooked white rice

Instructions

In the insert of the crockpot, whisk together beef consume or stock, soy sauce, dark brown sugar, sesame oil, and garlic.

Gently place your slices of beef in the liquid and toss to coat.

Turn crockpot on low and cook for 4-6 hours. See notes below.

When done, in a small bowl, whisk together cornstarch and cooking liquid, pour into crockpot, stir to mix well. Cook on low for an additional 30 minutes to thicken up the sauce. Please see notes if your sauce does not thicken.

Toss in your broccoli florets then serve hot over white rice.

Recipe Notes

Note about cooking time: Your crockpot may differ in temperature than mine, I suggest cooking this for 4 hours on your first go-round of this dish. 6 hours in the crockpot seems to be giving a lot of people "shredded" beef instead of slices, so decrease cooking time by 2 hours and go from there. Mine turned out fine with 6 hours.

If you are using frozen broccoli florets, you do NOT need to defrost them prior to putting them in the slow cooker. You add them in at the same time as you add the cornstarch mixture. As stated in the instructions, after you add the cornstarch mixture, you cook for 30 more minutes. This should be more than enough time to cook and defrost your broccoli florets.

If you're using fresh broccoli, you do NOT need to steam them prior to putting them in the crockpot. You add them in at the same time as you add the cornstarch mixture. Since you cook an additional 30 minutes, this will ensure that your fresh broccoli will be cooked through.

Yes, you put the meat in the slow cooker raw, in sliced pieces.

If you find that your mixture is not thickening, simply drain the liquid from the slow cooker and place it in a small pot over the stove over medium-high heat. Add the cornstarch mixture and stir into the liquid. This should thicken the sauce.

Leave a Comment

Thank you for taking the time to leave a comment! Please be patient when asking questions to a recipe as it may take up to 48 hours for me to respond. In the meantime, you may want to read previous comments to see if your question has already been answered. Please take a moment to read my comment policy as a gentle reminder of feedback etiquette. Have a great day!

Unfortunately, no. There are many reasons as to why I don’t post nutritional information on my recipes, one of which is that I simply do not have the time to do this. Also, I’m not a registered dietician or nutritionist so for me to give any sort of nutritional information would be incorrect and inaccurate. There are also many differing factors when it comes to nutritional information and since I do not have the knowledge in this, I do not feel comfortable posting this sort of information. If you must have this information, there are many calculators out there (free and paid) that can help you with calculations. A simple Google search would pull up some of these calculators, but again, I’m not endorsing them as I do not know how accurate they may be.

Hi Kay, in the servings, it says it is for four. I’m sorry that you think this site is just for two servings/two people. If you would like an in-depth reason why my blog is named Table for Two, please read the FAQs section. Happy New Year!

Just put this in the crock pot. Here’s hoping tripling everything works well, as i had a 3+ lb roast. I also subbed 1 tbsp molasses for the 1/3 cup brown sugar, as i didnt have brown sugar. I also put in a couple shakes of red pepper flakes.

This is a new favorite at our house. I made 1.5 times the recipe for my husband, myself, and 4-and-6-year-old boys. Only had enough left for me for lunch the next day! It smells HEAVENLY while cooking; we were all hungry at dinnertime!

I’m not sure if someone else commented on this, but you probably don’t want to use that timer for delayed start time if you are using meat. Meat sitting out at room temperature for several hours may not be safe. I believe it can grow bacteria that won’t be destroyed during cooking.

We love this recipe in our house. I’ve made it many times. I use a London Broil cut as it makes thin slicing so easy (and I can usually find one on sale!) I typically omit the sesame oil and it’s still delicious. The only downside – There are never leftovers!

This is one of my favorite recipes! My son looooves Asian inspired dishes but we live in the boondocks so this is our go-to dish! It’s super easy and delicious! Thanks for sharing it!! ❤️ Ps I don’t even slice the beef…I just throw the whole chunk in the crock and let it shred if it happens. It’s yummy either way and it helps when I forget to thaw the beef! 😜

It’s simply the amount of molasses it contains. Brown sugar is made with mixing white granulated sugar with molasses. It changes the flavor ever so slightly but in this recipe, you will be fine to use whichever you have on hand.